Good spec for a machine to run FCS2?

[Tinpusher]

I'm looking to replace my broken G4 with a new machine- either Mac Pro or G5- and run Final Cut Studio 2 on it.

I'm looking for good dual screen support (2 x Formac 20" TFT screens), fast rendering and possibly 3 x hard disk slots (1 x small-ish for system stuff, and 2 x 500GB drives on a software RAID for read/writing of audio and video).

Will an old(ish) G5 do? And if so, what sort of spec might I be looking for? Or will a Mac Pro just be so much better as to warrant the extra £8-900 that it would cost?

 

[ora]

I recently ran FCS2 on a G5 dual 2.5ghz I think it was, with Leopard and 6.5gb ram. Edited a 15 minute film so not super challenging on the kit, but all ran perfectly speedily for me. It was running a pair of 20" screens as well I believe.

A MacPro will be better I'm sure, but the G5 did the job. Don't stint on the ram though! It was all less fun with the 2.5gb I started with than with the 6.5gb i ended up with.

In terms of the MacPro being worth the extra cash, bear in mind the next OS will only run on intels like the MacPro I think. If I had the cash I'd get a MacPro I think, but its up to you and your credit card limit!